Life Love Family
by scottiegal2012
Summary: Alpha Quadrant Series Conclusion to A Side of Toast - J/C are ready to have their baby. T for semi-mature content


Title: Life. Love. Family. - Alpha Quadrant Series Conclusion to A Side of Toast  
Rating: T  
Characters: J/C  
Disclaimer: Paramount, the Roddenberry Estate, and Mr.'s Berman, Braga, Ms. Taylor own rights and priveledges to continuity, schematics, character profiles, etc. I just play in their world, which I believe they don't mind. They love their fans.  
Summary: Kathryn and Chakotay are ready to have their baby.

* * *

Kathryn inhaled slowly, eyes shut tight to enhance the experience. "Ooh, it smells _divine_." She laughed and leaned back in her chair, hands on her growing stomach.

Chakotay had a proud grin on his face as he gently laid a cloth napkin over her lap.

"I can't even see my lap, dear… It's certainly not going to catch any drips."

He said nothing, just smiled and walked back to the kitchen area.

While he was off planet, she'd spent time moving into his slightly larger apartment and readying the spare bedroom for their baby. It was a slow process, interrupted by her Academy lecture schedule. She declined the prospect of teaching the following year so that she could stay home with their little one, but she still had three weeks of the period left. He got home that afternoon and when she came in, he surprised her with a warm bath and a gentle massage… she didn't even have to get dressed… he administered it himself. She felt awful though, deep down. He'd been so busy running a ship and crew through the past 5 months and now he was home caring for her. "What can I help with?"

"Nothing, Kathryn, you just sit and wait." He grinned from behind the counter as he chopped the last of the fresh vegetables, donated by his 'mother-in-law.' He laid the tomatoes and cucumber slices across the top of the salad bowl and set it on the table beside the covered dish that was creating the _divine aroma_.

"I'm so lucky." She smiled up at him as he came around behind her and rubbed her shoulders.

"Don't you forget it." He grinned back. "Are you ready to eat?"

"Dare say…" She giggled as she sat up, her arms resting on the table.

He was teasing her, lifting the lid only slightly off the dish and closing it again.

"Do you know how terrible it is to tease a pregnant woman?"

He laughed, almost a howl. "I tried teasing B'Elanna _once_, before Miral was born. It never happened again."

She shook her head. "You should have known better. Well, lucky for you, I'm all human."

"How's your morning sickness been? The Doctor told me that it never really went away." He finally pulled the lid off the dish, revealing a casserole that instantly had her mouth watering. He scooped a spoonful onto her plate and added steamed carrots.

"Oh, Chakotay…" She mumbled as she inhaled yet again the food he'd so carefully prepared for them.

"Well, I was going to do something terribly sneaky, but than I thought if you swallowed it, it couldn't end well…" He sat beside her as he put his own food onto his plate. "I felt like I rushed out of your life after _knocking you up_ according to Tom… who yes now knows."

She rolled her eyes. "Were you at the station? How's Miral?"

He laughed. "I'll share the sentiments and hellos later, let me finish."

"Sorry." She chuckled and dutifully shoveled a forkful of carrots into her mouth. Living with a vegetarian was nice, but she was already missing her meats. She folded her hands across the table and stared at him. "Well..?"

He laughed again, this time it sounded nervous. "I'm working up the courage! Give me a second."

She looked down at her plate and pushed it to the side so she could reach over and hold his hands without getting food up her arms. She knew.

His cheeks were red as the _courage_ line had given him away. "Kathryn, since the day I met you I've wanted to be with you… wished we'd still been sick a time or two as well so we would have never had to _part_."

He was referring to the home they'd made together on New Earth. She almost did it. The night before Tuvok called them, she had almost worked up enough courage of her own to crawl into his bed, let him love her the way they both wanted. But she hadn't, and neither had he. In retrospect, she'd wished she had done it and told him as much. Maybe she wouldn't have hesitated to be with him through the rest of their journey… but than that future timeline may have never been corrected….

"I want to be your husband, for real… none of this 'let's play house.' You're carrying my baby, and you've been…Oh Kathryn… I just love you so much." He was crying now, his emotions getting the better of him as he stared into her completely devoted blue eyes.

She reached up and wiped the tears, smiling softly, starting to get emotional herself. "I love you too, and yes…. Yes without a doubt I want to marry you."

He reached over behind the casserole dish and unfolded a napkin. It had a ring in it, with a tiny crystal stone. The band had writing across it and she pulled back before he could put it on her.

"Let me read it."

He blushed, forgetting in the moment all about the words he'd labored so hard to carve into it.

When she took it, she could tell instantly he had done it himself and the tears that kept building made it hard for her to read._ Dearest Kathryn my soul, heart, breath. With love through eternity. Chakotay._ She very gently, and with a sort of reverence placed it back into the palm of his hand to let him put it on her.

He was quite serious, no smile, said nothing. He slid from the chair down to one knee and took her hand, sliding the ring onto her finger. He looked up at her and laughed when he saw how hard she was fighting the sobs. She lost and all but collapsed against him.

"Oh, Chakotay…"

"You're all I ever wanted." He breathed into her hair, speaking gently and rubbing her back slowly. He pulled her carefully the rest of the way off the chair and onto his lap on the floor, rocking her back and forth.

Kathryn finally stopped crying. She'd wanted this, she'd wanted a family, a home, to be taken care of the way her father had taken care of her mother. No matter how hard she'd tried, it all had kept slipping away from her and now, the man she'd watched beside her for seven years, the man she had breakfast, lunch and dinner with almost every day for those seven years was holding her in his arms, nothing between them, nothing stopping them.

He placed his hand on her stomach and smiled as he felt the baby moving beneath his fingers. _His_ baby, inside of the woman who was going to be _his _wife.

"You haven't felt… _her_." It wasn't a question, and the gender usage was specific.

He grinned as wide as he could possibly get it. "Her?"

She nodded. "The Doctor told me last month. It's a girl, you're going to have a daughter."

He tipped his head down to kiss her, gently moving his mouth against hers.

She moaned softly as he touched her, not quite expecting it mid-conversation, and definitely needing it. She stopped him when he tried to pull away to breathe and instead, with her hand behind his head, pulled his mouth harder against hers. When they finally did break apart, she was nearly panting, warm all over.

He laughed and ran his finger along her cheek and down her chin. "Are you ready for the baby?"

"Not in the slightest!" She groaned thinking of what was ahead of her and followed it up with a chuckle. "Chakotay, I've died, been turned into a lizard, was assimilated by the Borg, had a Torpedo blow up in my face… Why am I so nervous about this?"

"The unknown."

She gave him a quizzical look.

He smiled back and pulled her head down against his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll always be here."

* * *

She gasped and held his hand tighter as another contraction hit her. "Oh, God!"

Chakotay did his best to wipe the sweat from the side of her face and he rubbed her arm gently. "Ssh.. It's okay, Kathryn… slow breaths." He found himself subconsciously demonstrating.

The Doctor looked menacing as he came around the biobed with a hypospray in the private delivery room of the Starfleet Medical Facility.

She held her hand against his arm. "No-more. I can handle this."

Chakotay smothered the smile. She had no interest in yet more drugs pumped into her. She wanted to just face this. He pulled some hair that was stuck to her forehead off to the side and kissed her warm cheek.

She rolled to her side and buried her face in his hand, groaning through another strong contraction.

The Doctor was irritated at being sent away yet again, and it showed as he stalked out of the room, leaving them alone for a bit.

Chakotay leaned close to her ear and whispered gently. "We're almost there, Sweetheart. Hold on a bit longer."

"Almost." She repeated it with a nod before shifting onto her back again, moving her leg to hang off the bed. It seemed to give her more relief and she took a shallow breath. "I can feel her… she's right there."

Chakotay slid his hand beneath the sheet and between her legs. Yes, he could feel the slightest bit of the baby's head, _right there_. He grinned. He touched his baby for the first time. "Do you want me to get the Doctor?"

"No, not yet." Her breathing was ragged now and she closed her eyes through another, panting hard as it passed.

He held her hands in his, rubbing her knuckles with his thumbs. "Try and push, Kathryn." He whispered, kissing her left hand softly.

She gave him a crooked smile. "That's the last thing I want to do." But with the next contraction she did. She lifted herself up off the sweat soaked biobed and he held her knee with his strong hand, pulling it back a little as she pushed hard.

He again slid his hand down between her legs and could feel a little bit more of his daughter. "Great, Kathryn." He smiled.

"Easy for you to say." She managed a smile up at him anyway. As much as it hurt, she was happy to do it. She was happy to deliver her child and particularly so without the Doctor's presence, although she had no doubt he'd be back soon. "Oh…! Oww…" She groaned and closed her eyes tight, gritting her teeth.

"Come on, Kathryn, push sweetheart." He was holding the inside of her thigh, helping her make more room for their baby to come down further. It was the best any man could do. "Good, Baby… good. Breathe, breathe."

She was doing her absolute best to listen to him and follow his direction. She wasn't exactly thinking clearly on her own anymore and she needed that calm and steady presence. She reached up and grabbed his shoulder, gripping tight. "Help me sit."

"You can't sit…"

"Just a little… I can't…"

He slid his arm beneath her back and pushed her up as far as he dared.

She pushed her hands behind her to keep herself up and tucked her chin against her chest. "I couldn't breathe."

He smiled as she gasped for air and rubbed the lower part of her back. "Do you want me to get the Doctor now?"

"No, when he comes in, he comes in." She managed and shifted to the side, her knees now bent up of their own power. "Oh… oh…!" She started pushing again.

Chakotay reached down and felt the head, almost halfway out now. "That's it, Kathryn, keep pushing. She's right here…! Keep pushing."

She let herself fall back against the pillow on the bed as Chakotay rubbed her leg again.

"Give me your hand, you can feel her…" He took her fingertips and helped her reach down to feel the baby's head, completely there now to the forehead.

"What color is her hair?" Kathryn managed through clenched teeth.

"Light… brownish." He smiled again as he cupped his hand around her tiny head. "One more, her head will be out."

She held her hand toward him and he gripped it tight. She pushed with everything in her, feeling the baby's head moving down more, and Chakotay's other hand safely guiding her. "OW! Chakotay…!"

The Doctor came around the corner with that last burst from her vocal cords. He looked panicked, a norm for their Holographic friend. "Admiral, you shouldn't have pushed without medical assistance."

She ignored it easily as she touched her baby's head again, this time feeling her nose and mouth too as she felt her body tighten over the baby's neck, readying itself for the final leg of this journey.

Chakotay had both hands around the baby's head, protectively ready to deliver her the rest of the way.

"You should have been my nurse." The Doctor quipped as he came around to run the tricorder over the baby's head.

"No .. Was my… first officer." Kathryn could always come back at the Doctor, no matter how much pain she was in.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Yes, you stuck me with Mr. Paris. How is your breathing?"

"Okay…"

He checked the baby a final time before standing back and looking at Chakotay. "I suppose nothing's stopping you from finishing."

Chakotay had a proud smile on as he waited for Kathryn to breathe through a contraction she had no intention of pushing during.

She pushed herself down the bed a little to get off the damn pillow and gasped as the action caused the baby to move inside her. "Ahh-God, help!"

"I'm here, baby, she'll be out soon… come on, Kathryn, you've got to push."

She gasped and took a deep breath before pushing again, tears added to the effort this time.

He carefully pulled the baby's head as the first shoulder became visible and had to smile when Kathryn grabbed his wrist. "Keep pushing, Baby."

She held onto him a moment and took a shaky breath before moving her hand to brush against the baby's head and to touch the shoulder. It was an almost desperate move. She was exhausted, done. One more push and she cried out loud as the baby was pulled from her body.

Chakotay leaned against the bed as he held his squirming infant in his hands. She almost fit right there in his palms, the cord strung out still attaching her to her mother. He stared down at her for a long moment before the Doctor intervened and cleared the baby's mouth and nose.

Kathryn pushed herself up and crossed her leg in front of her for support. She needed to sit and see her baby. She reached a finger out and her daughter's tiny ones curled around it instantly. She felt herself begin crying as she smiled at her.

Chakotay watched the first interaction his daughter had with her mother and grinned proudly as he held her. He leaned a little further, resting his elbows on the bed so the baby was between them, still in his hands, but atop her bare legs.

The Doctor stepped back again, observing the baby, obviously healthy as she made small sounds before crying out fully. "Quite the lungs."

Kathryn simply nodded and reached her hands beneath the baby's back to touch Chakotay's. She spread her fingers out the length of his hands and smiled at the touch. "I love you."

He tipped his head up to kiss her softly. "That was amazing."

"Yeah, it was…" She nodded as Chakotay laid their baby in her arms and pulled the sheet over her lap.

The Doctor began rambling about the cord and the afterbirth, but Chakotay and Kathryn were intent on studying their infant daughter.

"We need a name." She whispered to him.

"We have time…" He kissed their girl on her forehead and whispered something to her in his native language.

Kathryn felt a wave of nausea and a little bit of pain as she could feel a slight contraction build and she grabbed Chakotay's hand with her free one.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "If you had been paying any attention…" He trailed off, lifting the baby from her arms and moving her to Chakotay's. He used a laser scalpel to cut the cord before pushing Chakotay back in the direction of a rocking chair.

Chakotay did as directed, sitting with the baby curled in his arms and shivering. He reached for the blanket hanging off the tray next to him and bundled her up.

The Doctor helped Kathryn lay back before taking care of her, helping her cleanup and getting a fresh warm blanket. He dimmed the lights and smiled at his friends. "I'll come back in a while to move her to the nursery."

Kathryn nodded, none too thrilled to be told that just yet. She was comfortable, head elevated just enough to see Chakotay rocking their daughter in the dim glow from the light above the bed. "Well, Daddy?"

"About time I become one, hmm?" He smiled over at _his_ Kathryn… within the next few weeks they'd be married and he'd be able to call her his _wife._ "I've never been happier."

"Neither have I…" She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and pulled the blanket with her. "Ooh, the floor is cold."

He grinned. "Bare feet discover so quickly."

She smiled back as she wrapped the blanket around her and held her arms out for her daughter.

Chakotay lifted his eyebrow. "I could have brought her to you."

"No…" She took the baby and pulled the blanket tighter around her. She eased down onto his lap slowly and snuggled down into his arms.

"You're not usually so _snuggly."_

"Are you complaining?" She shifted the baby so she was snug between their bodies and pressed her own face into Chakotay's neck.

"Not in the slightest. I enjoy cuddling with you."

She laughed softly. "Well, Daddy…" She emphasized it yet again. "Your little girl probably needs to eat."

He kicked his boot off and shoved it beneath the front of the rocker to steady it and shifted so she could comfortably nurse. He than helped her with the front of her gown and arranged the blanket so it kept them both warm.

"Thank you." She kissed him gently and reached for his hand, holding it tight as she dozed off in his arms.


End file.
